A typical marine vessel has one or more internal combustion engines that drive a propulsor, such as for example a propeller, impeller, pod drive and/or the like. The one or more internal combustion engines provide thrust necessary to propel the vessel. Some marine vessels also include one or more electric motors, which are typically battery-powered motors.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/100,037, expressly incorporated herein by reference, discloses systems and methods of operating a marine propulsion system utilizing an internal combustion engine and an electric motor that is powered by a battery, wherein the internal combustion engine and the electric motor each selectively power a marine propulsor to propel a marine vessel. A control circuit is operated to control operation of the system according to a plurality of modes including at least an electric mode wherein the electric motor powers the marine propulsor and a hybrid mode wherein the internal combustion engine powers the marine propulsor and provides power for recharging the battery. An operator-desired future performance capability of the hybrid marine propulsion system is input to the control circuit, which selects and executes the plurality of modes so as to provide the operator-desired desired future performance capability.